FG Team lift Battle Axe Polo Cup

FG Polo Team clinched the Battle Axe Polo Cup after defeating Diamond Paints by 8-6 in the final played here at LP&CC ground on Sunday.

General Officer Commanding 10 Division Maj Gen Aneequr Rehman Malik graced the occasion as chief guest and distributed prizes and shields among the winners. Other notables present on the occasion were Lahore Polo & Country Club (LP&CC) President Col (R) Shoaib Aftab, Secretary Maj (R) Babar Mehboob, players, their families and polo enthusiasts.

Tom Brodie was hero of the day as he fired in fabulous four goals for FG Polo while Maj (R) Haseeb Minhas hammered a hat-trick and Mian Abbas Mukhtar struck one. From Diamond Paints, Hissam Ali Hyder cracked a quartet while Raja Arslan Najeeb and Jalal Arslan hit one goal apiece.

Abbas Mukhtar started the final with a field goal to provide FG Polo 1-0 lead but Diamond Paints soon equalised the score at 1-1. The second chukker was also evenly poised as both the sides matched fire-with-fire and slamm in one goal each to make it 2-all.

Diamond Paints played comparatively better polo in the third chukker as they converted three goals against two by FG Polo to have 5-4 lead by the end of the chukker. In the fourth and last chukker, Tom Brodie singlehandedly led FG Polo to impressive title triumph by firing in fantastic four goals in the last chukker while Diamond Paints could convert just one goal. FG Polo won the final 8-6. In subsidiary final, BN Polo Team outscored Newage by 7-4. From BN Polo, Eulogio Celestino pumped in four goals while Babar Naseem, Ahmed Zubair Butt and Saqib Khan Khakwani hit one goal apiece. From Newage, Edward Banner Eve hammered a hat-trick while Adnan Jalil Azam converted one.

After winning the final, FG Polo Team captain Mian Abbas Mukhtar, who is also Director Fatima Group, said: “We have trained very hard and then played like a unit throughout the final, which helped us win the title.